Even on the streets of Washington, D.C., American voters are fed up over "killer" gas prices and want President Joe Biden to do more to achieve energy independence.
That's according to a new video released Friday morning by Sen. Tommy Tuberville. In the latest installment in the Alabama Republican's "Coach on the Street" series, the former Auburn football coach hit the pavement to ask "real Americans" how they've been "affected by these out-of-control prices at the pump" under Biden. The answers do not bode well for Democrats.
"A loaf of bread, eggs, milk. It's all going up," one man said. "Not a fan, ever," another said of skyrocketing gas prices. "I'm a school teacher, I need every penny I can." A third respondent called the increased cost at the pump under Biden "killer," while a fourth said he "can't believe" the level of energy inflation during the Democrat's first two years in office.
But Tuberville's interviewees weren't just united in their disdain for record-high gas prices. They also agreed that Biden needs to move to "unleash American energy" and achieve independence from the "convicts and criminals" from whom the United States imports oil.
"The message is clear," Tuberville said. "We need to pump our own oil. American energy. And one person can handle that, and he lives down on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
Under former president Donald Trump, the United States in 2020 became a net annual petroleum exporter for the first time in more than 70 years, producing roughly 18 million barrels of oil per day. Under Biden, however, America is again becoming a net oil importer, a shift that comes after congressional Democrats pressured oil executives to decrease their outputs because of climate change.
Biden and his allies in Congress, however, have dismissed the notion that their policies led to sky-high prices at the pump, instead blaming both oil and gas companies and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Last week, Biden pinned the high price of gas on oil companies for working to "pad their pockets at the expense of hardworking Americans," a claim that energy experts quickly derided.
The cry for energy independence seen in Tuberville's video is matched nationally. According to a March Trafalgar Group poll, nearly 80 percent of likely voters want Biden to increase U.S. energy production.
In addition to soaring gas prices, consumer costs have skyrocketed in general under Biden—in February, inflation hit a new 40-year high.